Welcome to the
March edition of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India eNewsletter. This month we share inspiring thoughts from Paramahansa Yogananda on the science of the soul, Raja Yoga, preserved for millennia in India and at the heart of which is Kriya Yoga, brought to the world in its fullness by Paramahansaji and his line of gurus.
Paramahansa Yogananda on Raja Yoga: The Science of the Soul
Raja Yoga, the “Royal Yoga,” is the science of God–realisation, a step–by–step means of reuniting the soul with Spirit–man with his Creator–developed by the rishis of ancient India, with proven and uniform results.
The West excels in the physical sciences, which give us material knowledge and inventions. The East excels in spiritual science, which tunes the soul to the Infinite.
The science of religion identifies the universal truths common to all–the basis of religion–and teaches how by their practical application persons can build their lives according to the Divine Plan. India’s teaching of Raja Yoga, the “royal” science of the soul, supersedes the orthodoxy of religion by setting forth systematically the practice of those methods that are universally necessary for the perfection of every individual, regardless of race or creed.
What is needed is a reunion of the science of religion with the spirit, or inspiration, of religion – the esoteric with the exoteric. The yoga science taught by Lord Krishna, which provides practical methods for actual inner experience of God to supplant the feeble life–expectancy of beliefs, and the spirit of Christ–love and brotherhood preached by Jesus–the only sure panacea to prevent the world from tearing itself apart by its unyielding differences–are in tandem one and the same universal truth, taught by these two Christs of East and West.
While in India to honour the centenary of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, YSS/SRF President Sri Swami Chidananda Giri spoke at the release of the Hindi translation of Paramahansa Yogananda’s God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, attended by the President of India and the Governor and Chief Minister of Jharkhand. In his address he explained, “A true scripture is timeless and universal because it is scientific,” and pointed out that the Raja Yoga science of the soul is “magnificently and superbly distilled” in Paramahansaji’s commentary on this greatest of India’s scriptures.
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